"
Ken Follet
Dutton, Dec 2002, 26.96, 432 pp.
ISBN 0525946896
In 1941, Winston Churchill is very worried that his country may lose the war especially when England intelligence intercepts a memo that indicates that Germany may have developed and refined a better system of radar than the one that the allies uses. They need to find this system and have someone send pictures to them so they know what they are up against. Hermia Mount, an agent who works for M-16, mounts a daring mission and discovers that the radar installation is located on the small Danish island Sandee.
Hermia secretly travels into Denmark and meets with her fiancé Arnie Olufsen, whose family lives on Sandee. He agrees to obtain the pictures of the radar installation and give them to her but his younger brother, Harald who has already been inside the edifice persuades him to led him undertake the mission. When a tragedy befalls Arnie, it is up to Harald and his beautiful compatriot Karen who must deliver the pictures to the English.
HORNET FLIGHT is chock full of action, suspense and seat of your pants adventure. Readers will see that though Denmark surrendered twenty-four hours after Nazi Germany invaded, her people became the backbone for a strong underground resistance movement. Though coincidence facilitated the beginning of the strong plot, Word War II buffs will want a sequel because the secondary characters deserve to have their story told. Ken Follet proves once again that he is the master of intrigue.
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 20% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
Spying/Terrorism Thriller
Yes
Cloak & Dagger Plotlets:
- main char. spying/sabotage
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
War-time military intelligence mission?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Genius (really!)
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- police/lawman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
- Scandinavia
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
